Sesame Chicken With Vegetable Fried Rice

Since moving to Houston I’ve struggled to find a great Chinese restaurant. With that in mind I decided to recreate one of my favorite Chinese dishes, sesame chicken with vegetable fried rice!

SESAME CHICKEN

Batter Ingredients

• 3/4th cup corn starch 
• 1/4th cup flour 
• 1/2 cup water 
• 1 1/2 tsp salt 
• 16 oz chicken breast cubed 

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 scallions, white parts in pieces, green parts, thinly sliced, to garnish
• 1 ½ tbsp corn starch
• 2 tbsp water
• 4 tbsp soy sauce 
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup chicken stock 
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce 
• 3 tsps sesame oil 
• 3 tsps lemon juice 
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (more or less depending on spice preference)

Cooking Steps

• Place corn starch, flour, water and salt into bowl and mix until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add cubed chicken and combine. 
• In a pan heat sesame oil, add garlic scallions (white parts only) and cook for roughly 1 minute.
• Add corn starch, water, soy sauce, chicken stock, honey, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice and chili flakes. Cook on medium high heat until thickened and smooth. 
• Meanwhile cook the chicken. Heat oil in a pan and cook chicken until lightly golden. 
• Combine chicken and sauce.
• Garnish with sesame seeds/scallions.

FRIED RICE

Ingredients 

• 2.5 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 small medium onion, diced
• 1/4th cup frozen peas
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups chilled cooked rice
• 2 green onions
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Cooking Steps

• Heat 1 tbsp butter in a wok over medium high heat.
• Add the carrots, onions, peas, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and cook for 4 minutes.
• Add 1 tbsp of butter to the wok and add in the cooked rice, green onions, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. 
• Push the rice to one side of the wok, add in 1/2 tbsp butter to the opposite side of the rice. Add in the egg to the buttered side of the pan and scramble.
• Once the egg is cooked mix the egg and rice until combined.
• Add in tsp of sesame oil, stir and cook for an additional 1 minute.
• Plate the rice with the chicken and enjoy!

Feel free to experiment with this recipe. Add more or less vegetables, pork, chicken, etc, to your rice depending on your preferences or what you have available!